Anesthesiology's success in making the intraoperative environment an extremely safe place, an accomplishment now recognized and emulated by other specialties, should not obscure the fact that important fundamental questions about the entire perioperative experience remain unanswered. These questions pertain to 1) the mechanism of general anesthetic action, 2) physiology of the perioperative state, 3) the mechanism and prevention of postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction, 4) providing safety throughout the entire perioperative period, 5) improving long-term outcomes, and 6) the treatment of acute and chronic pain. However, maintaining the scientific infrastructure that will guide the field of Anesthesiology into the future requires a core of well-trained and motivated physician-scientists within the specialty who are dedicated to the pursuit of problems important to Anesthesiology. To help ensure a scientifically robust future for Anesthesiology, the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (ACCM) at the Johns Hopkins University is submitting this application to support Postdoctoral Research Training in Anesthesiology. In addition to providing a critical avenue for the support of Trainees, it is anticipated that this program will continue to refine the approach whereby Johns Hopkins ACCM recruits, trains, and develops the next generation of physician-scientists in the specialty of Anesthesiology. ACCM has a long and productive history of providing training in clinical and basic Anesthesiology research, which this Training Program will continue to cultivate and formalize. Positive results are now being realized with the outstanding Trainees currently supported by the Training Program. Combined with the considerable resources already in place for faculty development at Johns Hopkins University, an Anesthesiology Post Doctoral Research Training Grant will continue to provide an outstanding opportunity for training physician-scientists to extend the scientific foundation for the practice of Anesthesiology. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Important fundamental questions exist about anesthesia and the care of patients during and after surgery. The goal of this application is to provide support for the training of physician-scientists to address these important problems and guide the specialty of Anesthesiology into the future.